Buckling under pressure from both the opposition parties and ruling ally Shiv Sena, Maharashtra legislative council Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar on Thursday, suspended Independent member Prashant Paricharak for 18 months from the house, for his objectionable remarks on wives of armymen during the civic poll campaign.
The state government also set up a high-power nine-member committee comprising legislative council members to probe the incident, call Paricharak for a hearing and recommend its final action in the matter.
Council (upper house) Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar will head the committee of council members from all parties in the house, said Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, who is also the Bharatiya Janata Party group leader in the council.